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NEW ORLEANS - Something about Terrence Ross in the spotlight still seems unnatural, though he has proven that hes worthy of the attention. On Saturday night hell only take up a third of it when he aims to defend his Slam Dunk title in the new-look contest, taking place at New Orleans Smoothie King Center. A year ago, Ross defeated reigning champion and little-known Jazz forward Jeremy Evans in a fan vote, breathing some new life into a floundering competition. But does he see himself as the defending champ? "I only do that just because thats what everybody calls me or they always ask me if Im going to defend my championship," said the Raptors modest and soft-spoken sophomore, who was reluctant to re-enter the contest this season, though he felt obligated to. "I have to. I just feel like if you win a championship you have to defend it." This year hell share the court with a few more familiar faces. For the first time in 26 years, the Slam Dunk contest will feature three All-Stars, two of which compete on a team with Ross as the event takes on a controversial new format. Teaming up with a couple of Eastern Conference All-Stars in Paul George and John Wall, Ross squad will oppose All-Star Swiss Army knife Damian Lillard and the Wests Harrison Barnes and Ben McLemore. The contests first round, a 90-second freestyle showcase, will force the teams to work together and assist on each others dunks. Ross met with his teammates Thursday evening to rehearse and formulate a strategy. All three say theyre ready to go. "We got our game plan ready," said the Pacers George, an All-Star starter. "Were all going to have fun with it, were all going to be a part of one anothers dunks so itll be a fun game." In the second round the East dunkers will go head-to-head with the competitors from the West until a team of three is crowned champion. Fans will then vote for the "Dunker of the Night" from the winning team. Intended to spice up an event thats lost its luster, the twist is one that may take some getting used to, one that not everyone is on board with. The participants, as you would expect, have high hopes for the new format. "I personally like [the new format]," Ross said. "A lot of people dont like it but after they see whats going to happen, how the dunks are going to turn out everybodys going to like it." "I think it makes it more fun," Lillard agreed. "Its a little bit less pressure on each individual dunker, its a little more of a group thing and a team thing." However, not everyone is so optimistic. "I just feel like the dunk contest from back in the day has always been pretty simple and thats what made it good," said All-Star forward Blake Griffin, who won the 2011 competition after jumping over the hood of a Kia. "So I dont know how I feel about putting in a lot of extra stuff. I think it should just be get out there and let them dunk. I think theyve made it a little too rigid. Just kind of make it more free and let guys have more fun with it and I think theyll get better results out of it." Whether you love it, hate it, sit somewhere in between or are reserving judgment, the NBA will take another stab at reinventing an event that is still haunted by the memory of Vince Carters iconic performance in 2000. 14 years after that fateful night in Oakland, Carters show-stopping dunks remain a hot topic of conversation at All-Star weekend. At the time it was exactly what the dunk-off needed, problem is Carter set the bar too high. "It was almost like he made it feel like it wasnt a dunk contest," said Ross, who was just nine years old when he watched Carter make history. "It was kind of like a clinic or like a tutorial, how he just went out there and every dunk he did was like first try, done, 50. It was unreal to see because you havent seen anybody shut down a dunk contest since." No one has topped it and perhaps no one ever will. All the format changes in the world wont change that but an infusion of young talent and star power could. With Ross, the defending champ, facing off against three brand-name players, theres more excitement going into this weekends event than there has been in years past. Still, everyone is clamouring to see a certain MVP throw his hat in the ring. "LeBron (James) would make the Dunk Contest so much more exciting," Ross admitted. "He would have people hanging from the ceiling just to try to get in and watch it. The atmosphere would probably be unreal and thats something I would like to experience. If he ever does it I would sign up again for it. Hopefully one day he does it." He has a Dunk Contest trophy on his shelf and a 51-point game on his resume, yet Ross is still getting comfortable with the attention. It took him a little while to allow his excitement to build up and come out but with a new format and fresh competition, the 23-year-old finally has his game face on. Better late than never. "Thats even more incentive for me to go in now and try to do it again," he said. "Its like a new contest." Cheap Air Max 97 All Pink China . Canada was placed in one of the easiest groups during Saturdays live televised draw in Montreal. Cheap Air Max 97 Pink China . The light-heavyweight champion and number one ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the world is on an 11-fight UFC winning streak, the longest in the history of the weight class. http://www.cheapairmax97fromchina.com/cheap-air-max-97-blue-china/ . Louis Cardinals on Sunday afternoon; a brief, poor outing that served to highlight two trends that have developed this season. Cheap Air Max 97 All Black China . Bradley is one of eight players selected to the team who also played in this years World Cup in Brazil. The MLS all-stars will compete against German giants Bayern Munich in Portland on Aug. Cheap Air Max 97 Orange China . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle.DENVER - Colorado and Philadelphia appeared headed for a shootout when Ryan OReilly found the scoring touch that has eluded him most of the season.OReilly scored at 4:40 of overtime and the Avalanche rallied to beat the Flyers 4-3 to end a two-game skid.It was OReillys second goal in eight games. He is on pace for just 15 goals after leading the Avalanche with 28 a season ago.Scoring a goal and contributing to a win is something Ive been missing a lot lately, so definitely to have that is a relief and something Ive got to continue to bring, OReilly said.OReilly got a pass from defenceman Tyson Barrie and beat goalie Steve Mason with a shot just under the crossbar. It was OReillys seventh of the season.Its disappointing because were six minutes from grabbing two points, Flyers forward Jakub Voracek said. Just a couple of mistakes and it cost us the game.Semyon Varlamov had 26 saves and Jarome Iginla also scored for the Avalanche.Claude Giroux, Vincent Lecavalier and Voracek scored for Philadelphia. Mason finished with 29 saves for the Flyers, who have lost three in a row.I thought we played a pretty good game, Philadelphia coach Craig Berube said. Were playing pretty good hockey, (but) were finding ways to lose games. I thought we had the better of the play.Colorado had a 2-1 lead after two periods but Lecavalier tied it with his sixth goal 2:52 into the third.Giroux gave the Flyers a 3-2 lead when he skated through four Avalanche skaters and beat Varlamov with a power-play goal at 10 minutes of the third. It was his 13th of the season.Giroux showed why hes one of the top goal scorers in the league, Avalanche coach Patrick Roy said. Against a team like this you cant take bad penalties and we took a couple bad ones tonight we shouldnt have.A tripping penalty on defenceman Braydon Corburn put Colorado on the power play 90 seconds later and Iginla tied it with his ninth goal at 12:48.ddddddddddddThe Flyers got their first power-play goal in seven games in the first period. They worked the puck around the front of the net to Voracek, who beat Varlamov with a high shot at 10:14. It was his 15th goal of the season and ended his first multigame points drought of the season.The lead held until Nate Guenin scored at 10:47 of the second period. His shot from the point got through traffic and past Mason for his first goal of the season. It also ended Colorados scoreless streak that had reached 131:07. The Avalanche hadnt scored since early in the first period against Chicago on Saturday.It was an important one, Roy said. He put a puck on net and from the bench I just couldnt believe that went through. Some nights you need different guys to score goals for your team and tonight was the case.Colorados next goal came a little quicker. Borna Rendulic, who was recalled from Lake Erie earlier in the day, beat Mason with a shot from the top of the right circle at 14:17 of the second.It was Rendulics first NHL goal and it came in his fourth NHL game. He also is the first Croatian-born player to score a goal in the NHL.Its a huge thing, Rendulic said. Its not so much a big hockey country, so maybe a lot of kids are going to look at it on TV and say I want to play hockey. Its really great. My parents have probably already called me 10 times.NOTES: Philadelphia D Michael Del Zotto sustained a cut on his neck from the skate of Avalanche LW Daniel Briere on his first shift of the game. He left to get stitches but returned to the game. ... Avalanche D Zach Redmond was a healthy scratch after playing in 22 straight games. ... Flyers C Zac Rinaldo missed his fifth straight game with an upper body injury. Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '
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